Any tips for 1st time Celebrity (Mercury) Cruisers?

[USNDiver]

My wife and I are taking our first Celebrity cruise on the Mercury in September. We decided to splurge a bit and book a Sky Suite (#1012) and are really looking forward to it. Can anyone offer any advice/tips/words of wisdom for some rookie Celebrity cruisers?

 

Thanks,

 

Dave

[iamirish]

Dave,

 

If you go the section called "ROLL CALLS - Celebrity Connections" and then look for the "Mercury" - then look for the date of your cruise - you should find others cruising with you. You can lerarn a lot from them.

 

Tom

[first celebrity cruiser]

Can anyone offer any advice/tips/words of wisdom for some rookie Celebrity cruisers?

 

Save yourself the heartache and cancel Mercury.

[USNDiver]

Save yourself the heartache and cancel Mercury.

 

Bold statement my friend - can you elaborate??

[first celebrity cruiser]

Bold statement my friend - can you elaborate??

 

Would love to, however in the past few days any negative post against Celebrity is removed overnight. So I guess you should read between the lines. I for one will never sail with them again - especially on Mercury. If you don't have high expectations you are probably going to be just fine.

[Chiliswick]

We sailed the Mercury last December. Loved the ship and are sailing her again in January 2007.

[Isaac]

I suggest doing a search. Try something like "mercury." You will find several existing threads on Mercury with loads of info I'm sure. By the way, just got off her last week and had an excellent time.

[luckylady1]

We were on Mercury last year and again this year. Would go on her again in a heartbeat. Do not miss Jean Claude and Gaby. They are two aerialists and they are wonderful.

[CRUZBUDS]

We all have different experiences and expectations

 

We love the Mercury. We are going on her again this October, it will be our third Mercury cruise in twelve months.

 

I don't know your cruising background or what you like about cruising. We find the Mercury a good size and the service and food have been wonderful. We like the little things Celebrity offers. Standing in line to board tenders in Cabo once, there were NCL tenders using the using the other side of the dock. We had extra canopies for shade, servers walking down the line passing out water. The cold towels felt great, Mexico gets hot! The NCL people were sweltering.

 

The Mercury is not new, there is no specialty restaurant, there are fewer balconies, ect.. We just find her very comfortable and relaxing.

 

Twelve more weeks and we'll be back on the Mercury!

 

ditto on Jean Claude and Gaby - incredible and don't forget the waffle bar for breakfast!

[uktog]

and do not forget the wonderful Martini Bar aboard

[sharpie13]

Be sure to hit the Sushi Bar.:D They decorate the starbord aft corner of the Palm Springs Café in a Japanese motif and serve sushi every night from 6:00 to 10:00 PM. The sushi chefs are very good and quite friendly too. Best of all, there is no surcharge the sushi bar.:cool:

 

We were in a group of 16 on this summer's cruise and all had a wonderful time.

[Bengoshi]

USNDiver: This Marine Colonel (Ret.) recommends that you wear your miniature medals on formal nights. After all, we are at war. I've reviewed the uniform manuals, and all permit wearing of medals on formal attire when appropriate. Your cruise is bound to include some important dates in the history of the US Navy (and if not, the U.S. Marine Corps!) If you are still on active duty, consider wearing the appropriate formal dress uniform. You won't be able to buy a drink for yourself!

[USNDiver]

USNDiver: This Marine Colonel (Ret.) recommends that you wear your miniature medals on formal nights. After all, we are at war. I've reviewed the uniform manuals, and all permit wearing of medals on formal attire when appropriate. Your cruise is bound to include some important dates in the history of the US Navy (and if not, the U.S. Marine Corps!) If you are still on active duty, consider wearing the appropriate formal dress uniform. You won't be able to buy a drink for yourself!

 

Colonel,

 

Shame on me for forgetting that the wearing of small medals is authorized. I'm still an Active Reservist, just off activation, and I may break out the Dress Blues at that.

 

Thanks for the reminder Sir,

 

Dave

[mctrekkie]

USN, DH and I are doing the PNW on Mercury Sept 25, also a Sky Suite (chose one on Sky Deck for the HUGE veranda). I'm so excited I can barely stand it!

 

Colonel, thanks for the reminder about the mini-medals. I'm USN-Retired myself. Geez, where are those minis........been packed away a while now.

[MaggieSweet]

DH and I did our first Celebrity cruise in the Pacific NW last September. I'm actually looking at my key card on my bulletin board as I type. :)

 

We like the size of the ship, we loved the 3-day itinerary and as much as we love the PNW, we didn't get off the ship at all! The staff was in impressive group and I would have no hesitation in booking them again.

 

Have a good cruise!!

 

Tammy

[hommebronze]

why we love the mercury....

 

http://www.photoshow.net/watch/yP8Cx2Kq

[SheilaNC]

We sailed Mercury two weeks ago and had the best cruise ever (and we've sailed many ships). Crew was superb, food excellent and no illness. I know that there were serious problems in March; however, the wrongs seem to have been corrected and the ship is a dream to sail on. Suggest that those who had bad experiences (and I'm not doubting that at all) might want to consider that the situation is different now - certainly was lovely 2 weeks ago. Might want to ask those back today how they felt about their cruise.

[sally r]

I have also just booked my first Celebrity cruise. It is on the Mercury 9/22/06. Since we live near Seattle I thought this three night cruise would be a great way to experience Celebrity. The scary part is that we are taking friends with us that are first time cruisers. I really had to do some arm twisting as they are die hard anti-cruisers. They had all the normal arguments: I'll get sick, I'll gain weight, I'll be bored. I want this to be an eye opening cruise for them so they can see why I enjoy cruising as my vacation of choice. I do have some reservations about the Mercury, especially her age. We have Sky Suites on the Sky deck. Can I expect our cabins to be clean and in good repair? Are there odors? Part of my concern comes from the fact that we recently cruised on the RCL Monarch and she was ratty and stinky.

 

One other quick question: As we are Diamond Plus with RCL we get free upgrades (if cabins are available) by calling two weeks prior to a cruise. Since we sail on Celebrity as Elite will we have the same perk?

 

Thanks!

[MaggieSweet]

Hi,

 

Obviously she is not a brand new ship, but I thought she looked great. We only had an oceanview cabin and the Celebrity bathrooms are so much more impressive than Princess!! If you have suites, your friends will be fine. They have nothing to compare it to. There were lots of activities and they certainly do not have to eat constantly if they do not want to.

 

On my Princess cruise (first cruise ever) I actually lost a pound (and this from a woman who LOVES to eat!) from all the activities.

 

Relax and enjoy!! They'll be as hooked as you when they step onboard in Seattle and are handed the complimentary champagne and escorted to their suite by a gloved and attentive member of staff. ;)

 

Tammy

[SheilaNC]

Completely agree with Tammy. The ship looked fine two weeks ago and the crew is wonderful. You will have a good cruise and your friends will be asking for more :) Just introduce yourselves to the officers and explain that it's your friends first cruise to waiter and room steward and you'll be on your way. The Guest Relations staff and Concierge are lovely . If you have questions, be sure to stop by and ask David (the Concierge) - his services are free to anyone (tell him hello from the Englebardts)!

[Nilla]

Be sure to hit the Sushi Bar.:D They decorate the starbord aft corner of the Palm Springs Café in a Japanese motif and serve sushi every night from 6:00 to 10:00 PM. The sushi chefs are very good and quite friendly too. Best of all, there is no surcharge the sushi bar.:cool:

 

Sharpie do u know if this is on every cruise? My other half loves sushi, and we will be doing a 3 night PNW cruise in OCtober. I told him about this and he is all excited, but want to make sure it will be offered on this trip as well! :p

[gillianrose]

Be sure to hit the Sushi Bar.:D They decorate the starbord aft corner of the Palm Springs Café in a Japanese motif and serve sushi every night from 6:00 to 10:00 PM. The sushi chefs are very good and quite friendly too. Best of all, there is no surcharge the sushi bar.:cool:

 

Sharpie do u know if this is on every cruise? My other half loves sushi, and we will be doing a 3 night PNW cruise in OCtober. I told him about this and he is all excited, but want to make sure it will be offered on this trip as well! :p

 

While it would not be fair of me to comment on the current status of sushi bar offerings on the Mercury, my husband and I agree that the sushi we had on the ship three years ago was the absolute worst of our entire lives. He especially had looked forward to the sushi bar and we were both sorely disappointed with the quality. Also, there were no Japanese sushi chefs when we were onboard. Are there now?

[Lobbylin]

why we love the mercury....

 

http://www.photoshow.net/watch/yP8Cx2Kq

 

Loved looking at your photoshow - we sail the Mercury next year and are very much looking forward to it. (moreso now!;) )

 

Thanks for sharing your photos!

[dkjretired]

Would love to, however in the past few days any negative post against Celebrity is removed overnight. So I guess you should read between the lines. I for one will never sail with them again - especially on Mercury. If you don't have high expectations you are probably going to be just fine.

 

You will love the sky deck, short trip down to buffet and pool area. Walk to rear, hop on elevator and right down to main restaurant.

 

The moderators have removed posts which violation the community guidelines. If you look at the various threads there are numerous negative posts made about Celebrity as well as positive posts. They have had some bad luck lately including a norovirus outbreak on the Mercury a couple of months ago.

[sally r]

Thanks for all the great comments on the Mercury. Excellent idea to talk up the fact that it is a first cruise for our friends.